


I’ll be here, by your side (don’t be scared, I ain’t going nowhere)

by driedupwishes



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Canon Compliant, Chapter 75, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flashbacks, M/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-13
Updated: 2015-11-13
Packaged: 2018-05-01 09:55:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5201567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/driedupwishes/pseuds/driedupwishes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi makes a promise, but orders are order. And though he hates them, a battle brewing isn’t the time to argue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I’ll be here, by your side (don’t be scared, I ain’t going nowhere)

Levi couldn’t breathe easy until the shout rang out.

“ _Squad Levi and Squad Hanji; bring down the Armored Titan!_ ”

The edge of a battle brewing like this wasn’t the place for his shoulders to slump in relief, but they did anyway. He hated being on this section of the wall; he could see Eren, but he wasn’t at his side and that was making him restless. He moved to follow the order, one of the few orders he had no problem following in his career, Armin moving at his side, when he was stopped.

“Levi, Armin- wait.”

_No_ , Levi wanted to snap; there was no time for _waiting_. Reiner was _right there_ , all fucking ugly and titaned up. Levi had been so close with his first hit, so _fucking_ close. If his squad and Hanji’s went for the bastard together, they could take him down. Eren wouldn’t have to-

“I said Squad Levi, but you shall stay here, Levi,” Erwin continued. Levi wanted to rip of his good arm and beat him with it. He gritted his teeth, frustrated, especially when Erwin didn’t fucking _continue talking_.

“Do you want me to protect the horses and not _Eren_ ,” Levi asked, after a heartbeat of tension Armin dared not break. The poor blonde was shifting at Levi’s side, looking pale and seconds from shitting himself due to the stress.

“Yes,” Erwin answered, not even having the fucking decency to look apologetic about it. Levi’s jaw clenched and he curled his hands into fists. This was one order too far, which Erwin seemed to realize, because when Levi opened his mouth to snarl back Erwin added on, “ _and_ I also want you to kill that one when possible.”

Erwin gestured with his blade, but Levi couldn’t bring himself to follow the motion with his eyes. Twisted this way, he could still see the little green figure in the distance that was Eren, standing under his own power and shifting restlessly. Eren’s head was turned his way, but Levi couldn’t make out what expression he was making. They were too far apart.

_You’ll be at my side?_

_Yes, I’ll be right there._

Levi closed his eyes instead of responding. Erwin held nothing back, but then he never had. He would say whatever he had to, to make Levi follow this order.

“You’re the only one I can leave the Beast Titan to.”

_Eren was pale, hollow cheeked from not enough rest, not enough food. He’d been pestering him to eat, to sleep, but restless and stressed, Eren couldn’t even sit through a meal, let alone a goddamn nap. The sight made Levi’s chest feel like something had been carved out of him._

_“Eren,” he said, hands twitching at his sides. He wanted to touch Eren, but something foolish in him was scared of breaking him. Like one more touch would shatter him. He curled his fingers into fists, reached for Eren anyway. The brunette leaned into his touch, turning his face against Levi’s hand, and with a hollow laugh Levi barely kept behind his teeth Levi brushed Eren’s bangs from his eyes, getting him to look up at him._

_“Whatever happens, you’re going to be okay,” Levi murmured. “We’re going to get you to the walls, get those holes sealed up, and then-“_

_Eren’s face shifted, a flicker in his eyes that made Levi bite his tongue. Noon would be here soon, the noon before the expedition. They were supposed to rest until late afternoon, then report to get ready, but neither of them could sleep. Levi kept seeing Eren in his dreams, limp body hanging out of his titan form, and no matter how fast Levi moved, the titans always got there first._

_He didn’t know what Eren kept dreaming about, but he could make a guess. Levi cleared his throat and tried again._

_“I will be right there, at your side,” Levi promised him. “To both walls and back, through whatever titans we have to fight; I will be right there.”_

_Eren looked at him, pale, ghostlike. Levi hadn’t seen Eren’s home town since it fell only a few months after he had joined the Survey Corps, but he’d been through abandoned, overrun areas before. They had the feel of ghosts around them, even the trees and grass pale and lifeless. Eren looked like he’d suit his hometown, right about now, and that thought made Levi shake. He swallowed and Eren blinked at him, slow like he was coming awake. A furrow appeared in Eren’s eyebrows and when the titan shifter reached for him, Levi leaned forward, into the touch the same way Eren had._

_“You’ll be by my side,” Eren echoed. His voice was rough, deep; the sound of it stuck in his throat from lack of use. Levi wanted to kiss his throat, kiss the corner of his mouth and then his lips, but there was already so much on his shoulders and Eren’s question deserved an answer._

_“Yes,” Levi had promised, “I’ll be right there.”_

Levi clenched his fists so hard his fingernails dug into his palm, piercing his skin in dull points of distant pain. He forced his eyes open, forced the thing in his chest clawing at his throat to leave. He twisted his head, away from Eren, toward the Beast Titan, and the sight of the big hairy ugly bastard ringed in titans made Levi sick.

_If I kill him, the rest will follow_ , Levi told him. _If I kill him, the battle will be over and Eren will be safe._

“Fine,” Levi said flatly. His lip curled around the words that followed in a sneer that hid how his stomach rolled with worry. “I’ll compensate for my mistake of not being able to kill that armored brat, by taking that fucker’s _head_.”

He hated breaking his promise to Eren, but the faster the Beast Titan was taken care of and the horses secured, the faster he could get back to Eren’s side.

_I’ll be right back_ , Levi promised quietly, with one last glance at Eren’s section of the wall. And this, at the very least, was a promise he intended to keep to the last.

**Author's Note:**

> chapter 75 got me fucked up and yall can guess which line kicked me to the curb, lmao. got a fix-it sequel-ish thing that I'm going to be posting too, but this is my completely canon compliant ererified chapter 75 fic. because listen. I needed it.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed tho!! c:


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